Ireland repays £1.2bn of UK rescue loans on schedule

The Republic has repaid on schedule more than a third of the £3.2 billion (€3.7 billion) bilateral loan it received from the UK under its international bailout at the start of the decade, a UK government report has confirmed.

A report published by HM Treasury this month said that three scheduled principal payments, totalling £1.2 billion, were made between April and the end of September. The outstanding principal stands at £2.01 billion and is due to be paid back between next February and March 2021.

While the Government moved two years ago to repay €1 billion of bilateral borrowings from Denmark and Sweden, as well as remaining €4.5 billion of International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt, ahead of schedule, it decided not to repay the UK early as it would have led to a €200 million penalty under a break clause attached to the facility.

The State, which received a total €67.5 billion rescue package in December 2010 as it struggled with the rising cost of shoring up the country’s banks and budget shortfalls, repaid some €18 billion out of its €22.5 billion of IMF loans between 2014 and 2015.

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The EU had waived the right of two EU bailout facilities, which gave Ireland €40.2 billion during the crisis, to seek early repayment as the State repaid other creditors ahead of schedule.